Coffee, Kevin Price decided, was the greatest thing Heavenly Father had ever put on Earth. From the moment he took his first sip at the small café (could it even be called a café?) in Kitguli, his mind raced with all of the miraculous things it did for him.
It woke him up, which was the first thing he noticed. He was always a light sleeper, and Elder Cunningham's snoring, along with his own thoughts racing, never failed to keep him awake each night. So the basic coffee maker he'd found at the marketplace was, in his opinion, the best thing to happen to the mission center.
It also gave him an excuse to take extraordinary care of his teeth. Coffee stained teeth, anyone could figure that out, even the other Elders who refused to touch the stuff. The very same young men who would lightheartedly tease Elder Price for the extreme lengths he went to in order to keep his smile as white as possible. Now with his daily indulgence threatening to ruin the perfection, his vanity was justifiable.
But the most important benefit of all, in his opinion, was the fact that it was against the rules. Against what Heavenly Father expected of a young missionary. The spark of rebellion found in any teenager had been itching at the perfect Kevin Price for years, but he always managed to stomp it out with his foot. He didn't know what the big deal was; after drinking it daily for two weeks, he hadn't had a single Hell dream. Heavenly Father must have been okay with it.
And if Heavenly Father was alright with one sin, Kevin justified that he'd be alright with another one. As long as he was perfect Price, super-Mormon in every other way, Heavenly Father wouldn't mind one bit if he liked boys.
Right?
